Dinner for a ladies reunion

[lmem1]

I live in Chicago and will be in your fine City next weekend for a college reunion/baby shower.

There will be about 8 of us ( in our late 30's) and we are looking for a place to eat and drink Saturday night. We are staying at Le Meridian but we are willing to cab or drive.

As far as food no sushi or seafood please and nothing super fancy or over the top expensive. We are looking for good food in a relaxed setting where we can talk and catch up.

Thanks

[steve h.]

Bix. Good vibe, good drinks, good food, nice music. Close to your hotel.

http://www.bixrestaurant.com/

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Bix
56 Gold St., San Francisco, CA 94133

[lmem1]

Thanks everyone. I guess I take for granted that I can call 1 week in advance for a res. for 8 here in Chicago. Not everywhere of course but its normally not an issue.

I will report back upon my return!

[Ruth Lafler]

The average restaurant size in San Francisco is pretty small and the good ones fill up fast.

[Ruth Lafler]

Wow. Reservation for 8 on a Saturday night. Tough. You said no sushi, but if Chinese would work I'd suggest calling Louie's California Chinese (bad name, good restaurant) and reserving one of their tables in a shoji room. As a bonus, it's walking distance from the Meridien.

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Louie's California Chinese
646 Washington Street, San Francisco, CA 94111-2106

[artemis]

8 on a Saturday night NEXT WEEKEND no less. The flip side of our being used to making reservations four weeks in advance is when I went on vacation in western Massachusetts a few weeks ago, restaurants were confused at my efforts to make reservations four weeks out... "call back a week before you come at most." You know you're from San Francisco when...

Searching on OpenTable on a table for 8 next Saturday (the 18th) possible good options... Bacco -Italian? Coco500 -California? Espestus -Brazillian steak? Farina -Italian? Harris -steak? House of Prime Rib -prime rib (and only that)? Indigo -casual Californian, no corkage? Le Charm -French? Nopa (at 9pm) -Californian? Piperade (at 5:30) -Basque? Spruce (9:30) -Cali-French?

Many restaurants don't offer tables that large via Open Table, but that is a place to start at least in terms of availability.

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Piperade
1015 Battery St., San Francisco, CA 94111

House of Prime Rib
1906 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA 94109

Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117

Coco500
598 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94107

[Ruth Lafler]

Of those, the one that would appeal to me is Coco500. Most of the rest wouldn't fit the request for a "relaxed setting"; a place like House of Prime Rib or Harris' (or I was thinking Alfred's) might work, but the menus are somewhat limited and they aren't cheap.

One reason I like Chinese restaurants for groups is the round tables, which are idea for a group that wants to talk and catch up -- much better than a rectangular table where the people at one end can't really talk to the people at the other.

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House of Prime Rib
1906 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA 94109

Coco500
598 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94107

[artemis]

Agreed. I'd definitely go for Chinese too in this situation (8 people means some kind of banquet!), but Chinese restaurants may not have the liquor license and cocktail program that the OP is looking for. Hard to tell what "drink" means.

[ML8000]

Heaven's Dog has nice full bar and decent cocktails. Not sure about a reservation but it's worth a look.

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Heaven's Dog
1148 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

[JasmineG]

Kokkari has round tables also for some groups, which is nice, and it's a relaxed atmosphere there.

[Pei]

Out of those I would pick Coco500 as well, although if I recall their biggest table seats 6 uncomfortably. Perhaps that's changed or I'm remembering incorrectly, do call because the food is fantastic.

Piperade has been great in the past for large groups. The restaurant is very quiet, the wine menu is lovely, and the service is adept. As I have not been in several years, maybe someone else can update. But the times I did go the food was fantastic, and very unique.

Don't stress over this, none of the restaurant you've listed serve poorly prepared or overly expensive food (comparing to big restaurants in Chicago). A party of 8 is a little more difficult to accommodate in SF, but not impossible.

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Piperade
1015 Battery St., San Francisco, CA 94111

Coco500
598 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94107